The haze which enveloped residents in Selangor appears to be moving north to Perak, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan.

While the skies over Selangor have cleared significantly with no more unhealthy air quality areas, certain spots in the northern states are on the brink of charting 100 on the Air Pollutant Index.

According to the Department of Environment’s Air Pollutant Index (API), Seri Manjung registered 97, Seberang Jaya was 96 while Sungai Petani was 95 as at 5 p.m. local time (4 p.m. Jakarta time) on Monday.

On the other hand, Port Klang, which consistently recorded the highest API in the past five days with numbers close to 150, registered an API of 79.

Other areas in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur are registering readings of between 60 and 72.

Images from the NOAA-18 satellite, operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis­tration, also showed 310 hotspots in Sumatra as of Monday morning.

It was reported that the haze was the result of peat and forest fires in the Riau district in central Sumatra and might prolong because of the drought there, which might last until July.

The current hot and wet weather in Malaysia, caused by the southwest monsoon, may also last until September.

In KLANG, the St John Ambulance of Malaysia said it was placing two extra ambulances on standby to respond to respiratory-related emergencies in the Klang Valley.